This 1,000sqm gallery, opened in 2001, forms part of a larger refurbishment of the Museum of London. The exhibition space was created by stripping away partitions from around a large central courtyard, to allow it to act more effectively as a source of natural light and an orientating device in the wider context of the layout of the museum. The gallery celebrates the period 1789 to 1914, which saw the emergence of London as the first great metropolis of the industrial age.

The first section of the installation covers the period 1789–1857, describing London’s unchallenged position as Europe’s pre-eminent city following the nation’s victories at Trafalgar and Waterloo – symbolised by a display featuring Nelson’s sword. The visitor then passes through a giant steel and glass structure, introducing the themes of engineering and technology that characterised the Victorian era. The display plinths are made of industrial steel, glass and glazed brick, materials of the age – but also sympathetic to the late-Modernist architecture of the museum itself. These plinths support all manner of exhibits including huge pieces of equipment, from lathes to horse-drawn carriages. The displays are tectonic, immediate and accessible.

Delicate, light-sensitive exhibits such as costumes are displayed away from the windows, protected from light by lowered ceilings rather than hidden away behind partitions. Timber-slatted ceilings throughout the space conceal lighting tracks and services.

The section of the gallery covering the period 1858–1914 places London and its inhabitants in a local, national and international context, interpreting a series of key themes such as slavery, international trade and colonialism. The focus here is on how the Metropolis managed to function during this period, in face of these constantly changing parameters.